My 2001 Tahoe LQ4 swap saga (lots of pics)

[Matts94Z28]

Have a cooler put on it tomorrow. Seriously.

[yota]

it will be after new years before i can (financially) as the repairs and tune just took all my truck money for the month and then some... luckily, i carpool to work and can keep it mostly parked until then...

[Harry]

Originally Posted by yota

it will be after new years before i can (financially) as the repairs and tune just took all my truck money for the month and then some... luckily, i carpool to work and can keep it mostly parked until then...

Man, You have had some kinda luck with that vehicle. Persistence pays off though.

[yota]

well, i'm losing 1st and 4th gear now when the trans gets up to operating temperature and my CEL is back on... i'm taking it back in to the shop this week to see what's up with it but based on the codes stored last time it was there, and how the trans is acting, i think i have some shift solenoids going bad... gonna try to get it patched back together for now and save up for a new trans and converter... i'm thinking about either an RPM or performabuilt... thoughts on either? i wish i was still down there because i know who would be building it- unless i could get one done there and shipped to me... anyway, here's the links to the 2 im looking at... gearmesh?

http://www.performabuilt.com/level-2.html

http://rpmtransmissions.com/levelvauto.html

[Carlrx7]

Originally Posted by yota

well, i'm losing 1st and 4th gear now when the trans gets up to operating temperature and my CEL is back on... i'm taking it back in to the shop this week to see what's up with it but based on the codes stored last time it was there, and how the trans is acting, i think i have some shift solenoids going bad... gonna try to get it patched back together for now and save up for a new trans and converter... i'm thinking about either an RPM or performabuilt... thoughts on either? i wish i was still down there because i know who would be building it- unless i could get one done there and shipped to me... anyway, here's the links to the 2 im looking at... gearmesh?

http://www.performabuilt.com/level-2.html

http://rpmtransmissions.com/levelvauto.html

if you already have the trans, just have gearmesh or montec build it for you.

[gearmesh, inc.]

Originally Posted by yota

well, i'm losing 1st and 4th gear now when the trans gets up to operating temperature and my CEL is back on... i'm taking it back in to the shop this week to see what's up with it but based on the codes stored last time it was there, and how the trans is acting, i think i have some shift solenoids going bad... gonna try to get it patched back together for now and save up for a new trans and converter... i'm thinking about either an RPM or performabuilt... thoughts on either? i wish i was still down there because i know who would be building it- unless i could get one done there and shipped to me... anyway, here's the links to the 2 im looking at... gearmesh?

http://www.performabuilt.com/level-2.html

http://rpmtransmissions.com/levelvauto.html

According to the solenoid truth tables for the 4L60 series transmissions, a failure of shift solenoid A can cause no 1st and 4th. Being as these shift solenoids are failure prone with high mileage, just go ahead and replace both of them while the pan is down. They usually run for about $25 each or a little less.

As far as the two trans companies you mentioned, either one will survive behind a mildly modded truck. One thing that does suck on these trucks is the factory trans tune for line pressure. The factory tune will give you max line pressure at WOT all the way through 1st, but after it lays into 2nd, the factory tune will cut line pressure back 30-40% even with you still holding WOT all the way into the shift for 3rd. This does not bode well for long term durability for the 3-4 clutches in any 4L60E no matter how well it is built.

I don't care for the prices of trannies from those companies that much, but when you are miles away from the usual people you have faith in, you don't have much choice.

[minytrker]

I wouldnt run a performabuilt 4l60 if you paid me. I have seen first hand atleast 10+ of there 4l60's NOT work and only 2 that did work.

[gearmesh, inc.]

Originally Posted by minytrker

I wouldnt run a performabuilt 4l60 if you paid me. I have seen first hand atleast 10+ of there 4l60's NOT work and only 2 that did work.

I couldn't remember all the mail order brands you tried so far with less than stellar success. I just went to those two websites Yota mentioned and looked their advertised build sheets over for component content. Whether that's what they actually have in them or not, or whether it is just inattention to detail that cause early failures, is anyone's guess.

I think a lot of internet transmission companies start off with the original company founders doing the building that actually have the knowledge to build a trans right. When they hit the big time, they get get bogged down with the administrative side of the business and resort to hiring flunkies that get paid by the hour instead of by the job and that's when quality control hits the crapper. Of course, the higher prices that you see have the cost of rework already factored in to where the company isn't really losing money when a trans comes back with a problem.

For the customer, long distance mail order warranties and the shipping costs required suck, versus being able to beat on the local builder's door in person if your recently built trans has an issue.

[minytrker]

RPM probably builds the best trans out there out of the company's who do alot of internet sales. They have some very fast cars out there with RPM trans in them. We had a RPM 4l60 that worked pretty good but Gerald went threw it and made it better without a doubt. I would still trust buying a trans from RPM if getting one from Gerald is not an option, he would be my first choice.

[Silver-Dollar]

I ran a performabuilt for 3 years behind a 3200 stall, daily driven 7 days a week. never had a problem. I may have went with Gerald to build mine if it was not a daily driver. I needed quick turn around and not wait for it to be on the table so to say.

[minytrker]

Originally Posted by Silver-Dollar

I ran a performabuilt for 3 years behind a 3200 stall, daily driven 7 days a week. never had a problem. I may have went with Gerald to build mine if it was not a daily driver. I needed quick turn around and not wait for it to be on the table so to say.

Yours is 1 of the 2 I listed as working, both were just daily drivers. I have not seen one work that was in something that was raced or had a power adder.

[Illusions]

my griffin transmission 4L60e is holding up just fine in the turtle blaze

[MonteC]

Originally Posted by Illusions

my griffin transmission 4L60e is holding up just fine in the turtle blaze

Well when you only put down 250hp you dont need much transmission.

[Matts94Z28]

Originally Posted by MonteC

Well when you only put down 250hp you dont need much transmission.

[MonteC]

Originally Posted by Matts94Z28

Same goes for you Mr. 200rwhp.

[Silver-Dollar]

I never raced mine per se. I did hammer it a good bit though. A lot of guys on performancetrucks.net ran them with adders of each kind. Go with what you feel comfortable with.

Rob and Gerald always get honest reviews. I rather keep the money local. But, I needed the truck to down a minimal time (less than 4 hours from drop off).

[yota]

Originally Posted by Carlrx7

if you already have the trans, just have gearmesh or montec build it for you.

i have the trans that is in the truck, but i am 1000 miles away from charleston

Originally Posted by gearmesh, inc.

According to the solenoid truth tables for the 4L60 series transmissions, a failure of shift solenoid A can cause no 1st and 4th. Being as these shift solenoids are failure prone with high mileage, just go ahead and replace both of them while the pan is down. They usually run for about $25 each or a little less.

As far as the two trans companies you mentioned, either one will survive behind a mildly modded truck. One thing that does suck on these trucks is the factory trans tune for line pressure. The factory tune will give you max line pressure at WOT all the way through 1st, but after it lays into 2nd, the factory tune will cut line pressure back 30-40% even with you still holding WOT all the way into the shift for 3rd. This does not bode well for long term durability for the 3-4 clutches in any 4L60E no matter how well it is built.

I don't care for the prices of trannies from those companies that much, but when you are miles away from the usual people you have faith in, you don't have much choice.

i dont care for their prices either but... also, my truck has been tuned, and will be tuned again for the new trans so that should take care of those issues... i'm thinking shift solenoid failure as well, but we'll see when the codes are pulled

Originally Posted by minytrker

I wouldnt run a performabuilt 4l60 if you paid me. I have seen first hand atleast 10+ of there 4l60's NOT work and only 2 that did work.

interesting... they are the #1 recommended trans from the folks i have been talking to up here, based on their first hand experience... not saying you are wrong, you just bring the other side to the table... thanks for the info

Originally Posted by gearmesh, inc.

I couldn't remember all the mail order brands you tried so far with less than stellar success. I just went to those two websites Yota mentioned and looked their advertised build sheets over for component content. Whether that's what they actually have in them or not, or whether it is just inattention to detail that cause early failures, is anyone's guess.

I think a lot of internet transmission companies start off with the original company founders doing the building that actually have the knowledge to build a trans right. When they hit the big time, they get get bogged down with the administrative side of the business and resort to hiring flunkies that get paid by the hour instead of by the job and that's when quality control hits the crapper. Of course, the higher prices that you see have the cost of rework already factored in to where the company isn't really losing money when a trans comes back with a problem.

For the customer, long distance mail order warranties and the shipping costs required suck, versus being able to beat on the local builder's door in person if your recently built trans has an issue.

this makes sense...

Originally Posted by minytrker

RPM probably builds the best trans out there out of the company's who do alot of internet sales. They have some very fast cars out there with RPM trans in them. We had a RPM 4l60 that worked pretty good but Gerald went threw it and made it better without a doubt. I would still trust buying a trans from RPM if getting one from Gerald is not an option, he would be my first choice.

i have read this many times over, all over the net (about RPM trannies)...

Originally Posted by Silver-Dollar

I never raced mine per se. I did hammer it a good bit though. A lot of guys on performancetrucks.net ran them with adders of each kind. Go with what you feel comfortable with.

Rob and Gerald always get honest reviews. I rather keep the money local. But, I needed the truck to down a minimal time (less than 4 hours from drop off).

i dont care about downtime at this point, i just want to do it and do it right... ive been without my truck since this thread was started and i want it back on the road... weighing my options at this point, but thanks for the input

[LXtasy]

Wasn't robs "built 4l80e" a permabuilt that grenaded?

[yota]

should be getting the truck back in the next week or so... i ended up just ordering a circle d 2600 stall converter for the truck and am waiting on it to get here and get installed along with a new pump seal, new set of shift solenoids, a new filter, and will be flushing and filling it with bg synthetic... after talking it over with my guy up here and everything, i think this will take care of the issues... once that is in and sorted out, i'm probably going to swap the cam out and be done with it for a while

speaking of cams... there is a guy up here selling a TSP 224R 224/224 .581"/.581" 112LSA Cam along with a set of comp 918 beehive springs and TSP 7.400" hardened pushrods all for $250 that i'm thinking about grabbing... thoughts?

[Silver-Dollar]

Good price for cam package. IMO, it may be a bit much for a Tahoe and 2600 stall, unless you are running 4.10 or 4.56 gears. I had that setup in my truck (4300lbs) with a 3200 stall and 4.10 gears.